Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Rhythmic flexibility within a phrase or measure; a relaxation of strict time.
- adjective Containing or characterized by rubato.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In music, in modified or distorted rhythm: especially used of the arbitrary lengthening of certain notes in a measure and the corresponding shortening of others, for the purpose of bringing some tone or chord into decided prominence without altering the total duration of the measure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Robbed; borrowed.
- adjective (Mus.) Borrowed time; -- a term applied to a style of performance in which some tones are held longer than their legitimate time, while others are proportionally curtailed.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A
tempo in which stricttiming isrelaxed , the music being played near, but not on thebeat
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a flexible tempo; not strictly on the beat
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Minute adjustments in just the right places (aka rubato) can make the music broaden out or seem hurried, or languid ... it's the power to create emotion in time.
Boing Boing 2010
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I love the word "rubato," which means you can mess around with the time as needed.
More on Music Steve Perry 2010
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I love it that the word "rubato," from the Italian, means, literally, "robbed."
More on Music Steve Perry 2010
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Frisell both live and on record with bassist Dave Holland and drummer Elvin Jones, but never with the kind of rubato elegance found here.
AvaxHome speakvisual 2010
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"Chopin's music frequently uses a musicial technique called" rubato "
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"Chopin's music frequently uses a musicial technique called" rubato "
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"Chopin's music frequently uses a musicial technique called" rubato "
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Mr. Motian prefers medium-slow tempos, just a hair faster than rubato, which suits Mr. Turner very nicely.
Summer Swing Dawns Will Friedwald 2011
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He offered a particularly impressive Scherzo No. 2; despite a few missed notes, it was his best outing of the evening, with splendid virtuosity in the middle section and perfectly judged rubato throughout.
Ganz's copious, commanding Chopin project Robert Battey 2011
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Hans Graf's conducting is similarly efficient enough, middle-of-the-road in his tempi and sparing in his use of rubato, while the Houston Symphony proves itself a highly competent band.
ruzuzu commented on the word rubato
""|Hélène| Grimaud doesn't sound like most pianists: she is a rubato artist, a reinventor of phrasings, a taker of chances. "A wrong note that is played out of élan, you hear it differently than one that is played out of fear," she says.""
-- https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=H%C3%A9l%C3%A8ne_Grimaud&oldid=778559561
June 20, 2017